Compound or alloy of titanium and silicon.



' 1W0 Drawing.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.- aueusrs J. Ros s1, or' anemia rants; new YORK, ass onon r rnn TITANIUM ALLOY mm'oracromue commmr, or raw roan, N. Y., a conroanrron or MAINE.

To all whom it may concern.- I I Be it known that I, AUoUs'rn J. Rossr, a citizen of-the United States, and a resident of Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagaraand State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Article of Manufac- 7 ture, Being a Compound or Alloy of Titanium and Silicon, and a 'new and useful ufacture,

part to the .metals, so treated with titanium and silicon, improved novel characteristics attributable to my novel procedures hereinafter described.

The beneficial characteristic effects of titanium upon'other metals, notably iron, either as an alloy therewith, or in minutequantities as an eliminator of undesired compounds therefrom, are, by now, well understood; likewise the othercharacte'ristic advantages of introducing silicon into such other metals. In some instances I have found it. particularly desirable to incorporate, at certain stages, with other"metal, notably ferro-metals, both titanium and silicon. These manipulations, and their novel,

characteristic beneficial results, have hithertoyI believe, proved unattainable except by resort to introduction of separate and different charges, the one of silicon, and the other of titanium, or of a so-called fferrosilicon, and, separately, of a ferrotitanium, i. e., an alloy, or compound,- of silicon on the one handwith other metal, and on the'other' hand of titanium with another metal, silicon being,.strictly speaking, a metalloid, but industriallyconsidered as-metal, of which it has the appearance and manyproperties. 4

My researches and experiments have-demonstrated that, by my hereinafter described no'vel procedure, it is possible to produce a Specification Letters Ifatent. Application filed September 14, 1909. Serial No. 517,546.

.nated silico-titanium, and

tioning of the constituents in-the fin dustrial CQMPOUND OR ALLOY OF TITANIUM AND SILICON.

compound, or alloy, of silicon with tita- Patented Mar. 5,1912 j nium, comprising also, if desired, a ter'ro or other metal, whereby the aforesaid characteristic beneficial efiects of silicon and titanium separately introduced, and others resulting from their thus preliminary unison are mparted to other metals for various purposes.

My present invention thus consists in the production, on a commercial scale, and for the treatment of other'metals industrially, ofa new article, being a compound, or alloy, of titanium and silicon'whi'ch'may be desi f aracticab e method of so producing sai hove article,

My said method also includes the ropor- 5 roduct to suit the special requirements 0' dif ferent manufactures, it being, thereby pos sible to vary the silicon content from 20% to. 75% of thewhole, and the titanium co'ntent from 5% to In fact the variation of respective proportions is,.bymy said method feaslble to suit substantially all inrequirements.

My said silico-tita'nium may be produced as. follows, taking as an illustration in this;

instance a case in which is required in the final product 70% silicon and.30% titanium.

I thoroughly mix together white sand (2'. a. practically pure silica), rutile (practically pure TiO,) and powdered carbon in suitable proportions to insure the aforesaid resulting product -according 'to the,-

.formulae .7

' SiO, 2C: 200 Si .'1iO,'-i-"2G=2OO.+Ti that is:. 24 carbon for 60 silica and rutile.

Omitting the fractions in the atomic metallic oxids, etc., butit is, elf-course, to be 75 carbon.

My mixture having been prepared as above stated, the next step is to charge 1t into a furnace or other container construct- .ed, and provided with means, to raise the charge to a temperature suiliciently high to insure reduction of the'oxids by the carbon, and subsequent ,\\'ithdrawal for use of the resulting molten alloy or compound of silicon and titanium in elemental state. I have found it preferable to use for this purpose an electric furnace of any approved type, for instancc-anelectric furnace con; taming therein two electrodes, or a-furna ceof the arc type, siich as I have-hitherto used in the reduction of metallic oxids and-is illustrated and described in U. 8. Letters Patent No. 602,941 granted tome on Oct. 24,- 1908, for process for the-reduction of understood that I do not confine myself to this particular method of supplying the re quired heat ,to tlie charge, and that any apparatus adapted to produce and maintain,

. sutiicientlylonga temperature adequateto reduce, by carbon all of the SiO, and TiO in the charge will subserve my purpose. 5

The above referred to electric furnace which I, however, prefer to'use for this particular purpose, consists, essentially, as will be observed by reference to the specification and drawings of my aforesaid Letters Pat ent, in a masonry of graphite. materials which constitutes the cathode, and contain- -ing within itself a centrally disposed cavity, the bottom of which constitutes the hearth,

"upon' which is built the upper portions of,

the furnace of refractory materials, the

whole being inclosed in'an iron casing.

Vlithin said central cavity, the cathode, a carbon electrode isycrtically niovably sup ported and means supplied forimparting theretosuch Wrticalimotioh. lhe electric current may:-b,e turned on. by sutliciently lowering said anode, thus bringing it into therefor required a pr n\'in'uttion to cathode, whereupon the said mixture is charged 'in around said anode. The required reaction then sets in, resulting finally in entire reduction of the SiO and-"TiO. ;'by'the calibon to .netallic' sta te,fand the formation of the "desired resultingmoltei'i alloy, which may be removed usual through a tap hole.

In many instances, and for many purposes, I have found it of further advantage toincorporateinto my novel silico-titanium, while being produced by my said method above illustrated, a-proportion of an additional metal, as for instance a ferro-metal, when said silic'o-titanium is designed for the treatment of ferro-metals, thus producing an alloy or compound of a ferro-metal, silicon and titanium in desired proportions, which maybe termed a ferro-silico-titanium. In many instances such addition of the ferro-metal appears to facilitate and otherwise favorize the desired reduction of the oriid of titanium and silicon. Said ferrosilico-titanium may be produced by addition -to my above described mixture of oxids of silicon and titanium of, for instance, scrap iron in any desired roportion. If, for instance, there be added to the said mixture 20 lbs. of such scrap and the charge subjected to the temperature above described, or even a lower, temperature, a resulting metallic product, alloy, or compound, will be obtained, containing Iron- 20'lbs. or Fe" '16.66+ 1 Siliconlbs; in Si" .58 .33+

cou s, Ti; 25.00

1'201bs. j 100.00

I of iron equal to 16.66 lbs. of scrap, according to formula Fe,O 30 3C0 Fe,

The presence of the aforesaid ferric content in the mixture appears. not only to facilitate the desired reduction of the silica and titanic acid and to insure the desired reactions at lower temperature-than would otherwise be required, but it also appears to impart to the resulting product-properties useful for certain purposes, .as fortinstaime greater fusibility, orv capacity fondissolving, on said resulting products being added thereafter to ferro-mctals in f ordinary manufacture for the purpose. of improving theisa me and inniarting ,thereto the characteristic efl'ccts of silicon and 'titaiiiunn. have also found that in cases \VllOljcflJ'ljfC-Stlltl 'silico-titanium is employed, as it-an'iay. be, for il'nparting to other than feigrorn'letals, as for instance particularly copper, tlOSll'CCl improved properties and characteristics,'it

is likewise 'offad 'autage' to incorpprato intothe charge of silico-titanic material in the furnace during reduction a proportion of ogeeee I cupric materiel, instead of ferric material, siiiccn enci' titanium associated with a. as for instance metallic copper O1 oxid of smaller quantity 0:? other metal which comcopper. The resulting product, alloy, '01- prises incorporating such other metal with 15 compound I may designctees cuplo-siiicothe criids of silicon and titnnium'in presence S-titanium. of a deoxidizing agent and subjecting the What I claim as new and desire tosecni'e Whole toe temperaizure sufficient to insure by Letters Patent is the following, viz reduction 01" said oxide of silicon and ti- 1. As a new article of manufacture a tanium. ternary alloy of titanium, silicon and iron, AUGUSTE J. E0881. 1 containing principally titanium and siiicon. EVituesscs: i

'2. The aforesaid method of pi'oducing an Emma!) BRUGKNER, alloy or compounci containing principally WILLIAM F.131ERED1TH. 

